Marie Read / Black-necked stilts (Himantopus mexicanus) pair performing post-copulatory display (as copulation ends, the male slides off the female leaving his wings draped over her and crossing his bill with hers...

Juergen Freund / Mud crab (Scylla serrata) in shallow sandy water. Split level with island and thatched house on stilts. Moromahu Island, Wakatobi, South Sulawesi, Indonesia. Second Place in the Portfolio Award of the...

Orsolya Haarberg,Orsolya Haarberg / The fishing village of Lovund, with the top of Tomskjevelen (Tomma island) in the background, Luroy, Helgeland, Nordland, Norway, July 2009

Bence Mate / Portrait of Black-winged stilt immature (Himantopus himantopus) standing on one leg, and stretching, Hungary

Bence Mate / Portrait of immature Black-winged stilt (Himantopus himantopus) sitting, with legs folding infront, Hungary

Rolf Nussbaumer / Black-necked stilt (Himantopus mexicanus) pair displaying, Dinero, Lake Corpus Christi, South Texas, USA.

Juergen Freund / A thatched house built in amongst the mangrove roots on stilts. Northern Palawan, Philippines, May 2009.

Juergen Freund / Farmers gleaning the shallows for seafood in front of houses they live in during the twice-yearly coconut harvest. Moromaho Island, Wakitobi, Sulawesi, Indonesia, November 2009.

Juergen Freund / Bungalows of Misool Eco Resort as night falls. Misool, Raja Ampat, West Papua, Indonesia, January 2010

Juergen Freund / Split-level shot of a shallow coral reef and house on stilts. North Raja Ampat, West Papua, Indonesia, February 2010

Juergen Freund / West Papuan house on stilts in coral reef shallows. Raja Ampat, West Papua, Indonesia, February 2010.

Juergen Freund / Snorkeler swimming underwater, split level, with Miniloc Island Resort in the background, El Nido, Palawan, Philippines, May 2009. Model released

Tony Heald / Black-Winged Stilt (Himantopus himantopus) wading. Etosha National Park, Namibia, January.

Bryan and Cherry Alexander / Traditional Even woman at storage hut, Koryakia, Kamchatka, Siberia, Russia, 1999.

Tim Laman / Dog walking along bridge walkway, and homes in Waifoy Village, Mayalibit Bay, Waigeo Island, West Papua, Indonesia, April 2007

Tim Laman / View of beach, and man fishing from a dugout canoe, at Yenbeser Village. Alfred Russel Wallace based himself in this village for several months in the 1850's. Raja Ampat Islands, Indonesia. May 2007

Edwin Giesbers / Black-winged stilt (Himantopus himantopus) in flight over long grasses at dusk, Lesbos, Greece

Edwin Giesbers / Silhouette of Black-winged stilt (Himantopus himantopus) standing on exposed rock over water, with reflections, Lesbos, Greece

Wild Wonders of Europe / Lesniewski / Black winged stilt (Himantopus himantopus) profile, Bagerova Steppe, Kerch Peninsula, Crimea, Ukraine, July 2009

Wild Wonders of Europe / Lesniewski / Black winged stilt (Himantopus himantopus) by a small pool in a dried out stream, Bagerova Steppe, Kerch Peninsula, Crimea, Ukraine, July 2009

Wild Wonders of Europe / Geidemark / Black winged stilt (Himantopus himantopus) in flight, Karavasta Lagoons National Park, Albania, June 2009

Wild Wonders of Europe / Allofs / Black-winged stilt (Himantopus himantopus) in water, Camargue, France, April 2009

Juan Carlos Munoz / Aerial view of homes built on stilts on edge of river, Kinabatangan River, Sandakan, Sabah, Malaysia 2007

Luis Quinta / Black winged stilt (Himantopus himantopus) chick, Reserva Natural Esturio do Sado, Portugal

Luis Quinta / Black winged stilt (Himantopus himantopus) with chick, Reserva Natural Esturio do Sado, Portugal

Rolf Nussbaumer / Black-winged Stilt {Himantopus himantopus} adult wading, Lake Neusiedl, Austria, April

Jose B. Ruiz / Female Black winged stilt {Himantopus himantopus} with summer plumage, foraging in lake, Donana NP, Sevilla, Spain

Jose B. Ruiz / Black winged stilt {Himantopus himantopus} with head submerged, feeding in lake, Donana NP, Sevilla, Spain

Jose B. Ruiz / Black winged stilt {Himantopus himantopus} Donana NP, Sevilla, Spain

Rolf Nussbaumer / Black necked stilt {Himantopus mexicanus} pair mating, Welder Wildlife Refuge, Sinton, Texas, USA

Ernie Janes / Black-necked stilts (Himantopus mexicanus) group of three early morning sun, Costa Rica.

Ernie Janes / Black-necked stilts (Himantopus mexicanus) group of five silhouetted, Costa Rica.

Enrique Lopez-Tapia / Traditional houses in Tana Toraja. Toraja is an ethnic group in West and South Sulawesi. Indonesia. 2015.

Enrique Lopez-Tapia / Traditional houses in Tana Toraja village, South Sulawesi, Indonesia. 2015.

Guy Edwardes / Sand patterns with ice between ripples of the sand, front of Burnham-on-Sea Lighthouse in winter, Somerset, England, UK, January.. January 2010

Guy Edwardes / Sand patterns with ice between ripples of the sand, front of Burnham-on-Sea Lighthouse in winter, Somerset, England, UK, January.. January 2010

Ashley Cooper / The Ormonde Offshore Wind Farm during construction. Barrow-In-Furness, Cumbria, England, UK. September 2011

Ashley Cooper / Close up of turbine in Ormonde Offshore Wind Farm, Barrow-In-Furness, Cumbria, England, UK. September 2011

Ashley Cooper / The Ormonde Offshore Wind Farm, Barrow-In-Furness, Cumbria, England, UK. September 2011

Andy Trowbridge / Two Adult Pied stilts / Black winged stilts (Himantopus himantopus) standing in shallow water. Lake Ellesmere, New Zealand. July.

Frederique Olivier / Wide angle shot of a Northern sea otter (Enhydra lutris kenyoni) in front of a house at low tide, Kachemak Bay, Alaska, USA.

Tom Gilks / Maize cob storage hut on stilts, Mfangano Island, Lake Victoria, Kenya, April 2013.

Juan Carlos Munoz / Black-winged stilts (Himantopus himantopus) foraging, Shumen, Bulgaria, April.

Juan Carlos Munoz / Black-winged stilts (Himantopus himantopus) foraging, Shumen, Bulgaria, April.

Juan Carlos Munoz / Black-winged stilts (Himantopus himantopus) in courtship display, Shumen, Bulgaria, April.

Juan Carlos Munoz / Black-winged stilts (Himantopus himantopus) mating, Shumen, Bulgaria, April.

Juan Carlos Munoz / Black-winged stilts (Himantopus himantopus) in courtship display, Shumen, Bulgaria, April.

Francois Savigny / Black winged stilt at sunset {Himantopus himantopus} Al Ansab, Oman, Middle East

Luke Massey / Trained Crab eating macaque (Macaca fascicularis) used for Topeng Monyet (dancing monkeys), crossing road on stilts, Bandung, Indonesia

Luke Massey / Trained Crab eating macaque (Macaca fascicularis) used for Topeng Monyet (dancing monkeys), crossing road on stilts, Bandung, Indonesia

Marie Read / Black-necked sStilt (Himantopus mexicanus) pair building nest in shallow wetland: male in foreground is squatting and pushing backwards with his feet/legs to form a nest scrape in vegetation the pair...

Marie Read / Black-necked Stilt (Himantopus mexicanus) pair building nest in shallow wetland, male in foreground in squatting and pushing backwards with his feet/legs to form a nest scrape in vegetation the pair...

Espen Bergersen / Three Black winged stilts (Himantopus himantopus) in shallow water, another landing, Volano, Italy, May.

Espen Bergersen / Two Black winged stilts (Himantopus himantopus) fighting for territory, another standing nearby, Volano, Italy, May.

Gerrit Vyn / Juvenule and adult Black-necked Stilts (Himantopus mexicanus) foraging in a restored wetland at Audubon's Paul J. Rainey Sanctuary. Vermilion Parrish, Louisiana, USA.

Bruno D'Amicis / Black-winged stilts (Himantopus himantopus) feeding in Shesher lake. Fogera plains, Lake Tana Biosphere Reserve, Ethiopia.

Roger Powell / Two Black-winged stilts (Himantopus himantopus) pair in flight over their feeding territory. Baragem do Caia, Santa Eulalia, Elvas, Portugal, May.

Roger Powell / Two Black-winged stilts (Himantopus himantopus) one male mobbing another to defend breeding territory. Baragem do Caia, Santa Eulalia, Elvas, Portugal, May.

Roger Powell / Black-winged stilts (Himantopus himantopus) male mobbing another to drive it away from its feeding territory. Baragem do Caia, Santa Eulalia, Elvas, Portugal, May.

Pete Oxford / Adi Gallong pole house, Adi Gallong Tribe village, Arunachal Pradesh, North East India, October 2014.

Pete Oxford / Adi Gallong pole houses, Jamlouvari Village, Adi Gallong Tribe, Arunachal Pradesh, North East India, November 2014.

Steve O. Taylor (GHF) / Traditional Dayak longhouse, Southern Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo. August 2010.

Steve O. Taylor (GHF) / Traditional Dayak longhouse, Southern Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo. August 2010.

Steve O. Taylor (GHF) / Traditional Dayak house, Southern Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo. August 2010.

Steve O. Taylor (GHF) / Family traditional Dayak house, Southern Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo. August 2010.

Steve O. Taylor (GHF) / Dayak long house built on stilts with satelitte dish, Gunung Palung National Park, West Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo. July 2010.

Steve O. Taylor (GHF) / Traditionally built house on stilts, Central Kalimantan. Indonesian Borneo. June 2010.

Angelo Gandolfi / The highlands and the Rio do Rastro hotel, Serra do Rio do Rastro, Santa Catarina, Brazil, September 2010.

David Woodfall / House protected by raised stilts alongside River Thames in February 2014 flood. Surrey, England, UK, 16th February 2014.

Markus Varesvuo / Black-winged stilt (Himantopus himantopus) in flight, Oman, November

Markus Varesvuo / Black-winged stilt (Himantopus himantopus) in flight, Oman, March

Markus Varesvuo / Black-winged stilt (Himantopus himantopus) in flight, Oman, November

Christophe Courteau / Black-necked stilts (Himantopus mexicanus) in the swamps of Hato El Cedral, Llanos, Venezuela.

Christophe Courteau / Mixed flock of White-faced Whistling Duck (Dendrocygna viduata), Black-bellied Whistling-duck (Dendrocygna autumnalis), Black-necked Stilts (Himantopus mexicanus) taking off the shallow water of Hato...

Laurent Geslin / Black-winged stilt {Himantopus himantopus} flying, France.

Juergen Freund / Aerial view of the flooded Lake Eyre with Ibis Island full of breeding water birds possibly banded stilts (Cladorhynchus leucocephalus) or red-necked avocets (Recurvirostra novaehollandiae) South Aust...

Juergen Freund / Aerial view of the flooded Lake Eyre with Ibis Island full of breeding water birds possibly banded stilts (Cladorhynchus leucocephalus) or red-necked avocets (Recurvirostra novaehollandiae) South Aust...

Gavin Hellier / Traditional masked Ceremonial Dogon Dancers near Sangha, Bandiagara escarpment, Dogon Country, Mali, 2006

Gavin Hellier / Traditional masked Ceremonial Dogon Dancers near Sangha, Bandiagara escarpment, Dogon Country, Mali, 2006

Gavin Hellier / Vacation cottages on stilts over ocean, Sandys Parish, Bermuda 2007

Gavin Hellier / Vacation cottages on stilts over ocean, Sandys Parish, Bermuda 2007

Neil Aldridge / Black-winged Stilt (Himantopus himantopus) walking on stones is reflected in the water of salt flats in the Algarve, Portugal, May.

Ann & Steve Toon / Black winged stilts (Himantopus himantopus) in water at Lake Nakuru National Park, Kenya, September

Neil Aldridge / Black winged Stilt (Himantopus himantopus) resting while standing on one leg is reflected in the water of salt flats in the Algarve, Portugal, May

Neil Aldridge / Black winged Stilts (Himantopus himantopus) pair reflected in the water on salt flats in the Algarve, Portugal, May

Bryan and Cherry Alexander / A traditional Selkup storage hut built on stilts to deter rodents in the forest near Tolka, Krasnoselkup, Yamal, Western Siberia, Russia 2012

Fabrice Cahez / Black-winged Stilt (Himantopus himantopus) silhouetted in flight. Aude, France, July.

Fabrice Cahez / Black-winged Stilt (Himantopus himantopus) silhouetted in flight. Aude, France, July.

Bert Willaert / Hunter holding up a haul of illegaly shot birds, including Black winged stilt (Himantopus himantopus), Corncrake (Crex crex), Quail (Coturnix coturnix) and Turtle dove (Streptopelia turtur), Chorochi...

Loic Poidevin / Black winged stilt (Himantopus himantopus) young bird in wetlands, Breton Marsh, West France, June

Loic Poidevin / Black winged stilt (Himantopus himantopus) sitting on its nest surrounded by water, Breton Marsh, West France, June

Loic Poidevin / Black winged stilt (Himantopus himantopus) nest and eggs raised above water, Breton Marsh, West France, June

David Pattyn / Black winged stilt (Himantopus himantopus) with prey while foraging, Camargue, France, July

Tui De Roy / Black-necked stilt (Himantopus mexicanus) in shallow coastal lagoon. Santa Cruz Island, Galapagos, June.

Brent Stephenson / New Zealand stilt (Himantopus novaezelandiae) feeding in a muddy pool, Glentanner, Central Otago, New Zealand.

Charlie Summers / Black-winged / Pied stilt (Himantopus himantopus) flying low over Lake Magadi, Serengeti, Tanzania.